Seal.



K; N. GATHER.

SEAL.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 7, 1913.

Patented Feb. 10, 1914-,

UNITED STATES PA'rn KINGMAN NOTT CATHEBI, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SEAL.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, KINGMAN No'r'r OATHER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Seals, of which the following is a specification.

The seal of the present invention relates more particularly to that class of seals used especially in conjunction with locks for car doors and similar devices, in order to indicate whether a tampering of the lock by unauthorized parties has been made and to prevent such tampering.

The objects of the present invention are to provide a seal which is cheap and simple of construction; which will be difiicult to imitate; and which will be configured in a manner to insure its correct positioning in each instance.

The invention further consists in the features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings: Figure l is an elevation showing a car door lock equipped with the seal of the present invention; Fig. 2 a perspective of said seal; and Fig. 3 a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

The present invention relates, as above stated, to that class of seals more especially designed and adapted for use with locks upon car doors, it being necessary to place some sort of an article upon the lock of the door which prevents any manipulation of the lock tending to unlock the door, without the mutilation or breaking of the seal, thus enabling railroad employees, by a glance at said seal, to determine whether the lock has been tampered with or not. It has been found that, in usage, dishonest persons will simulate or imitate the seals used upon the cars, so that, when the original seal is broken or mutilated in unfastening the lock, a spurious seal can be substituted for the original seal and a tampering will thus remain undetected until the car arrives at the point where it is to be rightfully opened.

It is one of the primary objects of the present invention to produce a seal which will be difficult and expensive of imitation, and which will bear certain characteristic formations easily discernible sothat. a mere glance at the seal will be sufiicient to determine its genuineness.

Referring to the drawings, and particu- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 7, 1913.

Patented Feb. 10, 191%.

Serial No. 772,457.

larly to Fig. 1, the seal is shownas applied is adapted for use, but merely illustrates one type with which the seal may be used. Therefore, no detailed description at this time of the lock illustrated is necessary. It is sufficient to say that the seal is so mounted within said look as to prevent the withdrawal of the bolt of the lock without a fracturing of the seal.

The seal consists of a body portion 5 which, in the form shown, is fiat-faced; one of said faces 6 is provided by pressing or indenting portions of said surface so as to produce a character or symbol which lies out of the plane of the body portion'of said faces. It is understood that wherever the term character or symbol is used it is meant to embrace any sort-of identifying or other mark which may be-placed upon the seal.

By referring to Fig. 3, it will be seen that these indentations, in the construction shown, are of a substantially deep nature eX- tending substantially half way through the body of the seal. By this method of formation, the style or type of the symbol is easily distinguishable at a glance; that is, a person inspecting the seals upon a car can readily determine whether the seals are genuine or spurious by noting the style of the characters and the fact that they are formed by means of a deep indentation made in the body of the seal. A character formed in this manner is quite diflicult of production and requires special tools to make the same, so that a person in imitating the seal would be placed under considerable difficulty, and a mere plate of the configuration similar to the seal with characters printed or otherwise placed on the surface thereof would be detected instantly as a spurious article. By thus forming the characters or symbols a seal is produced which is quite difiicult of imitation and the originality of which can be determined at a glance; or, if.

by reason of darkness, the face of the seal cannot be seen, its genuineness can' be determined by a touch, since the presence of such a style or characters can be easily determined by running a finger over the surface of the seal.

It is highly desirable that the seals be inserted each time so as to place the identifying characters or symbols thereon in correct position; that is, have them right side up and facing outwardly, and in order to insure such correct insertion, 1 form. the seal in a manner so that there is only one way in which the same can be placed in position on the lock. in order to bring this about, If configure the surface of the seal so that it makes an irregular outline for the seal, I configure the seat in the lock which receives the seal in conformity to the configuration of the seal so that said seal will not seat itself within the lock unless it is placed therein in. a certain particular manner.

ln the form of seal illustrated, bring about this irroularity of outline by forming a notch 8 in one corner of the seal, thereby bringing a portion of the surface 9 of id seal out of the plane of the remainder of said surface, and a portion of the surface 10 out of the plane of the remainder of the last mentioned surface, thus producing an irregular outline for the seal. 'lhen by forming the seat on the bolt which receives the seal in correspondence to the formation of the seal, the seal must be inserted within said seat in a certain position, or it will not fit within the seat and cannot be fully inserted.

As will. be seen from the drawings, 1 provide a lag or raised portion 11 on the seat in the bolt which r'ceives the seal, so that said seal in order to be placed in said seat must have the notched portion 8 in juxtarelation with said lug. Obviously, if an attempt were made to place the seal within the seat in a manner which would not bring the notched surface insuch relation to the lug, the lug would prevent a complete insertion of the seal which the 01' orator would observe and immediately withdraw the seal and place it in correctly. By this arrangement, the seal must be inserted in each instance in a manner so as to bring the characters or symbols thereon in a correct and desired position, so that the inspection of the seal for the purpose of detecting whether the lock has been tampered with is easily had. The body of the seal is preferably made of some fragile substance, so that it will become mutilated and destroyed when the bolt is withdrawn.

lly placing characters or symbols on the face of the seal of a relatively deep nature, the seal is weakened at a plurality of points; that is, decreased in transverse thickness, so that, when the blow is struck that shatters the seal, the same is broken in several places, owing to the weakened. spots, and thus shattered into a plurality of pieces and rendering impossible the reinsertion of the seal after it has been broken.

I claim:

1. A seal. for record locks comprising a body portion having a series of depressed characters on a face thereof, said depressions extending approximately half way through the body of the seal, whereby the face of the seal is traversed by a plurality of lines of weakness, to effect a complete shattering of the seal when the seal is struck, substantially as described.

2. A seal for record locks comprising a body portion having a part of one edge thereof out of alinement with the remainder of said edge, producing a irregular outline at one point only which serves as a means for preventing an incorrect insertion of the seal within the lock, substantially as described.

3. A seal for record locks comprising a body portion having a series of characters on the face thereof, said. characters lying in a plane beyond the plane of the remainder of said face, whereby a visual detection of the style of the characters may be had and the genuineness of the seal determined, a part of one edge of said seal being out of alineinent with the remainder of said edge producing an irregular outline at one point only, and said irregularity serving as a means for preventing an incorrect insertion of the seal within the lock, substantially as described.

l. A seal for record locks comprising a plate-like body portion having one corner only cut away producing an irregular outline at one point, and said irregularity serving as a means for preventing an incorrect insertion of the seal within the lock, substantially as described.

KENGMAN llOlTT CATHER.

lVitnesses WM. P. Bonn, Ernnamr BANNING.

Copies of this patent may -be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

